FHSU Athletics
#7/13 Fort Hays State (13-1, 4-1 MIAA)
vs. Missouri Western (10-4, 5-1 MIAA)
Thursday, January 16, 2025 • 5:30 p.m.
Hays, Kan. • Gross Memorial Coliseum
Radio: KJLS (103.3) CLICK HERE TO LISTENVideo: MIAA Network: CLICK HERE TO WATCH ($)
Game Sponsor: Domino's Pizza
National Anthem: Stockton High School
Promotions: Big Creek Crossing Baby Crawl at halftime, Mascot Night
The seventh-ranked Fort Hays State women's basketball team looks to avenge its only loss of the season Thursday when the Tigers host Missouri Western. First tip is slated for 5:30 p.m. inside Gross Memorial Coliseum.
The Tigers (13-1, 4-1 MIAA) and Griffons (10-4, 5-1 MIAA) will play for the second time in less than two weeks after Missouri Western handed FHSU its first loss of the season last Saturday (Jan. 4) in St. Joseph, Mo., 67-66.Since that contest, the Tigers bounced back with a 22-point win over Emporia State last Thursday, while Missouri Western suffered its first conference loss on the road at Washburn.
Brooke Loewe tied the school record with 13 assists in the win over Emporia State after dishing out 12 against Missouri Western. She's tallied 10 or more assists three times this season, while no other player in the conference has done so more than once.
Loewe's school-record 13 assists helped the Tigers rack up 24 assists as a team in the win over ESU, the most by a team in an MIAA contest so far this season. That total helped the Tigers raise their assist average to 19.5 per game, second-most in Division II. FHSU also ranks in the top 10 nationally in assist/turnover ratio (1.36, third), defensive rebounds per game (31.0, third), field goal percentage defense (33.3 percent, fifth), scoring margin (plus-20.3, seventh), winning percentage (92.9 percent, eighth) and 3-point percentage defense (23.9 percent, ninth).
Talexa Weeter is averaging 13.7 points per game off the bench this season, 12th-best in the MIAA. She is the only player ranked in the top 25 in scoring in the league that is not a regular starter.
Katie DeGarmo nearly averages a double-double when playing MWSU (17.6 ppg, 9.5 rpg in 11 games). Now with 1,947 points and 1,064 rebounds in her career, the graduate student needs 45 rebounds to tie for the program record and needs 53 points to become the second player in school history to reach 2,000 points.
The Tigers have trailed for 47:12 in 565 minutes of action (8.4 percent) across 14 games this season. FHSU hasn't trailed by more than five points and hasn't trailed for more than 13:20 in a single game.
The Tigers are 34-28 all-time against the Griffons, including a 21-8 edge in games played in Hays. The Griffons have won three straight and five of the last seven meetings, with all five of those wins coming by three or fewer points. The Tigers are 0-3 against the Griffons during the Talia Kahrs era. MWSU is the only team that Kahrs has yet to beat during her young head coaching career. Fort Hays State is 17-13 against the Griffons in MIAA regular season conference contests.
The Griffons are 10-4 so far this season and 5-1 in conference action after falling to Washburn last weekend for their first league loss of the year. MWSU is hitting 10.4 3-pointers per game, second-best in Division II and tops in the MIAA. They attempt 30.1 triples per night, third-most in the country. Alyssa Bonilla leads the Griffons in points and assists, averaging 16.9 points and 5.9 assists per contest. She ranks third in the league in scoring and second in assists behind FHSU's Brooke Loewe.